this morning on "early today," battle in boca. tonight is the final debate between obama and romney, the subject, afghanistan, libya, iran, your world. political poll position. the race is tightening with 15 days before america votes. latest numbers ahead. and breaking n on lance armstrong's future. we'll have the details right now. >> this is "early today" for monday, october 22nd, 2012. captions paid for by nbc-universal television a very good morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. heading into tonight's third and final presidential debate, our new nbc news "wall street journal" poll shows election night could be a cliffhanger with the candidates now dead even. nbc news political director and

political correspondent chuck todd breaks down the numbers. >> reporter: the new nbc news "wall street journal" poll shows the candidates in a 47-47 tie among likely voters. in mid september, the president led 50-45. the numbers show an evenly divided country overall. the president's job approval holding steady at 49%. economic approval down at 46%. foreign policy approval at 49%. the poll also shows a clear enthusiasm gap. the president has a 49-44 lead among all registered voters, but that 47-47 tie among likelies, it means republicans are more enthusiastic and more likely to vote. the biggest red flag for obama, 62% say they want major changes if he's re-elected. romney's biggest red flag, by 44-43, he is still personally viewed more negatively than positively. >> that was nbc's chuck todd reporting there. after a violent weekend in the middle east, tonight's third and final presidential debate topic of foreign policy is more timely than ever.

nbc's tracie potts has a preview for us from washington. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. a lot on the table. 200 people stormed the parliament building in libya. we saw violence in lebanon with five people wounded this morning. a 9-year-old girl there killed over the weekend. syria, that civil war continuing, and all of it very likely to come up at this debate tonight. tonight's debate is going to be a little bit different. the format is going to be similar, but the candidates will be seated, no notes, no props. six 15-minute segments, including the afghan war, israel, iran, where the white house is denying they are agreeing to talks on the nuclear program so far. china, the middle east. over the weekend, we saw the president at camp david where he's behind closed doors preparing for this final debate. governor romney took a bit of a

football break amid his preparations over the weekend. libya very likely to come up as an issue with both of them. the governor has been pressing president obama to explain why the disconnect early on with who was behind the deadly attacks there. veronica. >> tracie potts in washington, thank you. our coverage of the final presidential debate begins tonight at 9:00 eastern right here on nbc. this morning we are learning more about the gunman who opened fire at a wisconsin day spa leaving three people dead, four others wounded. authorities say it appears to be a case of domestic violence and that the 45-year-old suspected shooter had a temporary restraining order against him by his wife. nbc's jay gray has details. >> reporter: this morning police are still trying to piece together exactly what happened in this normally quiet milwaukee suburb. >> it could take days, weeks to figure this all out. a very large crime scene. a very confused crime scene. >> reporter: investigators say 45-year-old ratcliff haugton

walked into this spa just after 11:00 on sunday morning and opened fire. >> a girl probably in her 20s holding a paper towel to her neck because she was bleeding from her neck. >> reporter: three women were killed, four others wounded. >> we had seen about ten people come running out of the back of the building with their hands up screaming. >> reporter: in the chaos a s.w.a.t. team and federal agents moved in, after an intense search, finding the suspect locked in a remote area of the spa dead from an apparent gunshot wound. >> the one suspect we believe is responsible for the shootings today is deceased. >> reporter: investigators say his wife worked at the spa and had recently been granted a restraining order against him. >> we believe this incident is domestic violence related. >> reporter: a family dispute that became very public and very violent on sunday. this morning, police continue their investigation. jay gray, nbc news.

breaking news out of switzerland. minutes ago the world governing body profession for cycling announced it's accepted the decision to ban lance armstrong from cycling for life and strip him of his seven tour de france titles. international cycling union president pat mcquaed made the announcement several minutes ago. they said they would remove his name from the record books. for years he's been plagued by allegations of doping. two weeks ago the world was stunned when the doping agency released 1,000 pages of what it called overwhelming evidence of cheating backed by testimony of 11 team members. he's stepped down as chairman of his charity live strong, and he's also been dumped by some of his big sponsors. and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america.

in california, disturbing video coming in to us showing a man set on fire with a molotov cocktail. you can see him running across the parking lot. the victim was standing outside a market when a fireball was thrown. police released the video in hopes of finding the attack. next to denver where a life was saved on camera. a baby millayian taper needed mouth-to-snout rescue breaths. a view staff member performed the procedure after the calf was nonresponsive following its birth. officials say the newborn is doing just fine now. self hundred women in texas showed their high heeled shoes are made for more than just walking. they competed for the annual tell let toe stampede. there are even a couple of guys in there who strapped on pumps to show support. the event was organized to raise money for breast cancer

awareness. west virginia's 33rd bridge day brute out an extreme cast of characters. over 400 base jumpers participated. two of them newly weds. now here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather forecast. i can't even jump off the high dive. >> you're supposed to have leap of faith jokes there. >> right, the wedding couple in there, leap of faith. good morning everyone. hope you had a wonderful weekend. the storm arizona tiesed volg through the west. many areas expecting nasty weather as we go throughout our morning commute. washington state is okay. mostly just showers. but in oregon the rain is increased up i-5 from sail let me and port lapped. further to the south, medford, rain continues. snow around mt. shasta. in central california this is

the first significant snow for the mountainous areas. expecting one to two feet of snow in tahoe area above 5,000 feet. it looks like more is trying to creep down from the north. further to the south, los angeles isn't going to experience too much from this storm. further to the north, yosemite is under a winter storm warning. the weather pattern, very mild an warm. all the stormy weather is right along the west coast. that's going to continue during the day today. even as we go throughout the week, the cool air remains but the stormy weather will be gone. takeou plan your day. in general, a lot of people need umbrellas. in higher elevations, for the

first time, snow shovels. this snow is going to slowly lingr in the west. it doesn't look like it will exit until probably thursday. controlling your phone or ipad with a blink of an eye. gas prices drop. your business headlines are still ahead. cuban leader fidel castro is seen for the first time in months and he criticizes the rumor mongers. we'll have the details. you're watching "early today." >> announcer: brought to the makers of centrum.

good morning. welcome back to "early today." here are some of the stories this morning. clashes erupted in lebanon following friday's assassination of an anti-syrian top intelligence official. many lebanese politicians are blaming syria for the killings. funeral services will be held for george mcgovern who died at the age of 90, perhaps

best san antonio for his outspoken views on the vietnam war. fidel castro is alive and well according to a photo released bay former venezuelan vice president. the 86-year-old wrote an arts curveball where he criticizes rumors that he was on his death bed. the catholic church has seven new saints including the first native american. some 80,000 pilgrims filled st. peter's square for the celebration. some parents might want to have the birds and bees talk with their boys a little sooner than expected. a new study shows that males are hitting puberty six months and two years earlier than before. the average age for sexual maturity is 9 for african-americans. 10 for white and hispanic boys. researchers aren't sure what's causing this new trend. >> announcer: early today health is brought no you by vagisil ph

balanced wash. now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens this week at 13,343 after dropping 205 points friday. the s&p sank 24. the nasdaq plunged 67. taking a look at overseas trading on monday, in tokyo, the nikkei was up eight points. in hong kong the hang seng rose 145. ahead this week, earnings, earnings, and more earnings. 150 s&p 500 companies weigh in with quarterly reports. including apple cater pillar and at&t. there will also be a federal reserve policy meeting on investors' minds. also, third quarter gdp gets updated. some say the housing recovery could push growth above 2%, which could have an impact on the election. wheeling and dealing. bp is set to announce a deal allowing roseneft to buy most of its business in russia for cash and stock. good news for drivers at home. the lundberg survey says gas has

dropped eight 1/2 cents over the past two weeks. after sending this cryptic invitation teasing "we've got a little more to show you," apple is expected to unveil a mini ipad tomorrow. not to be outdone, microsoft will release its touch screen friendly windows 8 operating system, which has some radical changes in store. microsoft will debut a new online music service and its very first tablet. and forget using your fingers. if one danish company is successful, you may soon be able to control your mobile device with your eyes. the company, called i-tribe, hopes to have software on the market in 2013. absolutely incredible. the wnba crowns a new champion, and big ben tangles with the bengals. plus, get ready for game 7. do or die time for the cardinals and giants. your sports headlines are straight ahead. and it still feels more like september than october, but that will change in the days ahead. your forecast is coming up.

you're watching "early today."

welcome back. in sports now, we start with baseball, and a game seven tonight in the national league championship series. in san francisco, the giants' ryan vogelsong struck out nine, a career best. and marco scutaro hit a two-run

double as the giants beat the cards 6-1. tonight's winner will face detroit in the world series starting wednesday. now to the nfl sunday night game. pittsburgh broke a tie with cincinnati in the fourth quarter on an 11-yard burst by chris ranen. the steelers beat the bengals 24-17. eli manning pulled out another dramatic fourth quarter comeback with a 77-yard bomb in the closing minutes to victor cruz. the giants get an exciting 27-23 win over washington, and here he goes. cruz celebrating with his famed salsa dance. look at him go. other action in the nfl. drew brees connected on four touchdown passes as the saints beat tampa 33-28. green bay's aaron rodgers tossed three scoring passes as the packers got their fourth straight victory 30-20 over st. louis. college football now, alabama still number one in the bcs rankings, with florida in second place. kansas state moved up to number three with a win over west virginia. oregon is fourth.

notre dame rounds out the top five. in the wnba, tameka catchings had 25 points as the indiana fever won its first championship, beating minnesota three games to one. and finally, the red sox have traded for their new manager. boston got toronto manager john farrell by trading infielder mike aviles to the blue jays to bring their former pitching coach back to fenway park. this is only the seventh time in major league history that a team has traded for a manager. and just ahead, a new baby for adele. new details about the filming of "hangover 3." plus, an 11-year-old texan makes history. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. the big headline is the first big storm in central california. a lot of rain in sacramento and snow at the high elevations, especially about 5,000 feet. the worst of it is today as far as the heavy rain goes. maybe thunderstorms to the north. this will linger through tomorrow. many of the same spots will deal with hit and miss showers tomorrow, too. let's take a look at entertainment news. "paranormal activity 4" pulled in a lower than expected $30.2 million this weekend. filming for "the hangover 3"

caused headaches for driving after closing highways. and adele and her new boyfriend reportedly have a new bundle of joy after she gave birth to a baby boy. this weekend, "snl" poked fun at last week's heated second presidential debate. >> mr. president, if you don't mind, i'd like to answer eugene's very thoughtful question about gas prices. after that, it's you and me outside. >> oh really, old man? >> yeah, just the two of us. no secret service. >> in that case, you better bring your mormon magic underpants. and your wife's dancing arms. when i play, i play for keeps. >> let me at him, dad. >> come on, sit down, tag. not now. >> it's too much. it over emphasizes everything that people talked about after that debate. you knew tag was going to show up for that skit.

this now comes to us from kxas, nbc 5 in dallas, texas. an american dance prodigy has just earned the opportunity of a lifetime. 11-year-old george chadwick was invited to train at one of the world's most prestigious schools in russia. he received the offer after a grueling six-week audition. the tuition is steep and training half a world away weighed heavily on his family's decision, but in the end, george is getting their support and he will be leaving later this month for moscow. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day on your nbc station.

riding your bike has never been greener. a pair of inventors have developed a bicycle made from recycled cardboard. they say the bike costs a mere $9 to make and that the raw materials can be found in nearly every country. the creators have established rebates for the recycled bikes to allow them to be given away for free in poor countries. a newlywed couple in london is hoping to live long and prosper in what was london's first-known klingon wedding, two happy trekkies tied the knot at a star truck convention. it was inspired by a klingon wedding scene from the show and really pulled out all the stops. the two exchanged vows, dressed in traditional klingon garb and will spend their money at the

convention. that is dedication. now moving to a wedding miracle in new zealand. a couple has been reunited with their wedding photos 18 months after losing their camera during a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. thinking the photos were gone forever, one day the couple noticed their lost camera stuck in the mud and painstakingly retrieved the memory card and downloaded them to the computer. >> and somehow -- that's crazy. >> isn't that crazy? >> they showed the picture of the camera. it was smashed. but i guess the card was -- >> the memory card. fate. >> it's amazing they found it. time now for a look at the stories we'll follow throughout the day on nbc. vice president joe biden will attend two grass roots events in the battleground state of ohio today. tomorrow he'll be joined by the president for their first joint public rally on the campaign trail this year. nasa astronaut kevin ford and two russian cosmonauts are finishing their final preps for their flight to international space station tomorrow. a russian-made rocket was erected into place sunday ahead of tuesday's launch.

the three-man crew is scheduled to remain in orbit through march 2013. a very hpy birthday to one of hollywood's original leading ladies. joan fontaine turns 95 years old today. happy birthday. all day long you can stay on top of the latest developments on those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight be sure to watch "nbc nightly news." and in a "today" exclusive, savannah goes one-on-one with daredevil felix baumgartner about his record breaking space jump. and details on a new book by pippa middleton about her rise to fame and her royal relatives. keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and much more. i'm veronica de la cruz. thank you so much for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a terrific monday. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com